Grădina lui Raul
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The cauldron over a wood fire in the garden
Four days in September · Dudeștii Noi

From the garden into the jar

Zacuscă is the smoky roasted-vegetable spread Romanian households put up every autumn. You pick the aubergines and peppers off the plant in the morning, the cauldron goes on the fire at noon, and in the evening you leave with your own jars.

Entry 60 lei per adult, children under 14 free. Jars 2 lei each, vegetables at production price.

Pick your dayCall: 0721 049 481

By appointment onlyFour days, that is all. Tell us which one suits and we will say whether there is still room at the cauldron.

  • 12 km from Timișoara
  • 19–20 and 26–27 September
  • Cooked in the cauldron, over a wood fire
  • You leave with your own jars
Pick your day

Four days, four cauldrons

Each day is a workshop of its own, with its own cauldron. Choose one and write to us.

  • Saturday19September 2026Gone by
  • Sunday20September 2026Gone by
  • Saturday26September 2026Gone by
  • Sunday27September 2026Gone by

No fixed hours. We start in the morning and finish when the jars are full.

How the day goes

A day at the cauldron

  1. A hand reaching between the leaves for a pepper

    Morning

    You walk the rows with a crate and choose the aubergines, capia and gogoșari straight off the plant.

  2. Aubergines and capia peppers laid across the grate above the embers

    Around noon

    The fire is lit. Peppers and aubergines roast on the iron disc, and you can smell it from the gate.

  3. The same vegetables once roasted, skins blackened and split

    Afternoon

    Everything is chopped, tipped into the cauldron, and stirred in turns. This is where zacuscă is made, not in a kitchen.

  4. The cauldron full of finished zacuscă, bay leaves laid on top

    Evening

    The jars are filled and shared out in equal parts among the adults. You leave with yours, and with hands that know how it is done.

The entry

What the 60 lei covers

  • The snackincludedA rustic platter of farm produce, halfway through the day.
  • FirewoodincludedThe fire burns under the cauldron all day.
  • Disc and grillincludedThe iron disc the aubergines and peppers roast on.
  • Power for the chopperincludedThe vegetable chopper, put to work.
  • The rest of the farmincludedIt is the same field as the picking, so everything there is yours: parking, shade, toilet, drinking water, the animals for the children and the pond, with Raul's rod.
  • Children under 14freeThey come in free and get a snack too. They don't take one of the 10 places and don't count in the jar share.
What goes in the cauldron

Raul's recipe

Aubergines, capia peppers and gogoșari, picked that same morning. Plus onion and carrot from the farm.

  • Glossy aubergines on the plant, photographed by RaulAuberginesroasted on the disc until they give
  • A capia pepper turning from green to deep redCapia peppersthe sweetness and the colour
  • A crate of red gogoșar peppers, squat and deeply lobedGogoșarthe thick flesh

It comes out sweet, not hot. Hot peppers grow two steps away, but they never go in the cauldron.

A row of yellow peppers in the field, greenery grown up between the plants and the drip line along the soil

Zacuscă on a stove and zacuscă in a cauldron are two different things. You taste it in the first spoonful.

— Raul

We grow the vegetables in permaculture. They ripen in the garden and are picked the day they go into the cauldron.

No herbicides, no pesticides.

What goes home with you

Up to seven jars

There is one cauldron, so one batch is made and shared out in equal parts among the adults. How far it goes depends on how many of us there are and how much work gets done, but it is usually up to seven 800-gram jars per adult.

A jar of zacuscă held above the full cauldron, a bay leaf laid on top
Questions

What people ask us

Do I need to bring jars?
No, there are jars here. If you bring your own, bring them washed and with lids that seal properly, or the zacuscă will not keep through the winter.
Does it come out hot?
No, it comes out sweet. It is fine for children.
How long does a day last?
It depends how many of us there are and how long the peppers take on the disc. We start in the morning, eat halfway through, and agree your arrival time when you book.
Can I bring the children?
Yes, and under 14 they come in free, with a snack of their own. There are animals, room to run, and plenty for them to do at the cauldron. They don't take one of the 10 places and don't count in the jar share.
What should I bring?
Clothes you can work in and shoes you do not mind getting dusty. Everything else is here.
Can I take vegetables home as well as zacuscă?
Yes, you are out in the field anyway and it is the same entry, not a second one. Take a crate, pick what you like, and the vegetables are paid separately when you leave.
How do I know I have a place?
Write on WhatsApp or call. The place is yours once Raul answers, not before.
See you at the cauldron

Pick your day and write to us

Tell us which day you want and how many of you there are. We will reply with what is still free.

Message on WhatsAppCall: 0721 049 481

It runs on the field, the same place as the picking. Not the eatery, the field is somewhere else.

AddressCalea Sânandreiului, Dudeștii Noi, Timiș